The Associated Press has lots of stories about the suicide bombing in Israel today. There’s a story about the bombing itself, last updated at 4:24 p.m. Eastern time. There’s a sob story about the poor, poor, pitiful bomber, and why he chose to blow himself up in the middle of an Israeli bakery. There’s a story about the groups behind yesterday’s suicide bombing. There’s a story about the number of suicide bombings in Israel since 2001, which lists less than 30 of the 130 suicide bombings that Israel has suffered since 2001. Let me repeat that: There have been 130 suicide bomb attacks in Israel since 2001.
Reuters has the story, too, and some of the samebox copy as AP.
And yet, there is something missing from every single one of the AP and Reuters pieces on the suicide bombing, and that is something that is always missing: The names, ages, and genders of the victims. The suicide bomber is always named, aged, has his town identified, and usually has quotes from grieving (yet happy) family members included.
You never read the names of the victims anywhere but in Israeli newspapers, blogs like mine, and Jewish newspapers. Never. The victims have no names, no faces, and are nothing to the AP and Reuters but statistics: Numbers in a bloody game where the side that is favored is not the side of the Jews.
These are the names of the victims of yesterday’s suicide bombings:
The two owners of the bakery, Amil Elimelech, 32, and Michael Ben Sa’adon, 27 were killed in the attack as well as one of their employees, Israel Samolia, 26.
Elimelech was married with two children while Ben Sa’adon was married with one child.
Samolia was an immigrant from Peru. His family, currently residing in Miami, was notified of his death by the Israeli consul.
Michael Ben Sa’adon’s son is eight months old. Amil Elimelech’s daughters are two and four.
These are the victims of the suicide bombings, and these are the names that the AP and Reuters will not print. Because to print the names of the bombings would put a human face on the victims of the palestinians, and that would engender sympathy towards Israel. You’ll never see that in Reuters or the AP.
It struck me this morning as I was reading through the various outlets’ coverage – it’s not just the names, faces, etc of the victims that’s missing. It’s also poignant pictures of the family members. AP’s pictures are all of the suicide bomber’s (proud) family – most holding up his picture. Of the families of the victims? Nada.